What Is Worship And What It Is Not

Let us begin by asking the question; what is idolatry? Merriam-Webster online defines it as: 1the worship of a physical object as a god, or

Worship is the primary action of the church. Those who are part of it assemble together to sing, pray, remember Christ, listen to the Scriptures, and contribute to the Lord’s causes (Acts 2:42, 47; 1 Cor. 16:1-2). It is one of the church’s primary purposes, and it is crucial for its worship to be in harmony with the Scriptures. In Lutheranism, worship is a spiritual exercise that outwardly expresses itself as an acceptance of God’s gift to humans (Jacobs 551). Lutherans

Music is the only medium that blesses both man and God at the same time and as such to see it as an entertainment factor within our worship services is a gross misunderstanding of its purpose. Music is made up of three elements: melody, harmony, and rhythm. Mankind is also made up of three parts: spirit, soul and body (1 Thess 5:23). It can be argued that music and the triune, or trichotomy, of mankind are intrinsically linked i.e. melody is likened to the spirit, harmony to the soul and rhythm to the body.

In The Elementary Forms of Religious Life, Durkheim argues that when it comes to religious praxis, the world is divided into two distinct categories, the sacred and the profane. Essentially, the profane describes the aspects of our lives that are ordinary and are meant to be kept separate from the sacred, which describes aspects that are to be treated as extraordinary and deserving respect. In reference to the sacred, Durkheim discusses totemism and its significance, explaining that totems are objects that embody the identity of a society, and can also be representative of the divine. He says that a totem “expresses and symbolizes two different sorts of things…it is the outward and visible form of what we have called the totemic principle or god. But it is also the symbol of the determined society called a clan” (Durkheim 2004:75).

In applying the five criteria of evaluating worship music which are whether it contains biblical truth; theological profundity; poetic richness; musical beauty; and how the music to text enhances rather than obscures or distorts its meaning brings to the forefront that although Christian music is enjoyable and at times comforting there is a need to delve deeper into their formation to see the true beauty and merit it holds

“Worship is… our response, both personal and corporate, to God – for who He is! And what He has done! Expressed in and by the things we say and the way we live.” There are many definitions of worship out there. I have found that this one seems to best fit my heart when praying through the topic of worship. Worship is something that begins in the heart, privately, and then flows out during times of public and corporate gathering. Worship however, is something far deeper than music, dance, art, or drama. Worship is more than fine arts. Worship is more than Sunday morning gatherings or Wednesday night small groups. Worship is life. Worship is something you do. “Worship isn’t something you attend like a movie or a concert. Worship is something you enter into with all of your might. Worship is a participation sport in a spectator culture.” “True worship is a whole-life response to God’s greatness and glory. A response that taps our mind, our soul, out heart of passion and all our strength.”

In Chapter 3, Joe Horness sets forth an argument for contemporary music-driven worship. This style of worship has an emphasis on relationship. Horness seeks to set forth the true goal of contemporary worship. It is not just about the instrumentation; instead it focuses on the communication. Horness takes the reader personally through his journey from traditional worship to contemporary worship, including his experience with Willow Creek Church. In his chapter, Horness promotes an emphasis on connecting: connecting unbelievers with believers and ultimately, connecting all people with God. He states, “People of this generation are longing to experience the genuine presence of God. And God is longing to move in and among the hearts of his people. If we will learn to worship from hearts that are fully engaged, God will be glorified and set free to move in us and among us (104).” Horness ends his chapter with some brief warnings for those involved in the contemporary worship. He then encourages all worshipers to seek above all to bring their best to God

Worship: Worship is the expression of regard towards God or a supernatural entity. Many religions around the world worship many God or many other gods of their religion.

Since the inception of religion, practices and rituals have always remained the core principles and building blocks of religion. An argument can be made that religion is essentially one’s belief in and worship of a superhuman with authoritative power (i.e. God). Therefore, practices and rituals are a byproduct of these beliefs. In order to truly believe or worship, one must adhere to these practice beliefs and rituals.

They are called out by God to experience and witness to the gospel. The work of worshipping God would invite them to gather in a ritual act of worship. Worshipping God in a tradition is led by a pastor. This would involve “preaching, teaching, healing, gathering the community, governance, outreach and community witness.” The Greek word ecclesia is referred to the people who are called out for these ministerial tasks.

Observing the daily lifestyles of the individuals from different time periods show a great deal of how the religion changes the societal behavior of the followers of each religion. The religion’s form of worshipping a God is a reputable indicator of the era’s culture. While looking into The Iliad, we find that the culture of that time highlights warfare and worshipping multiple Gods. This polytheistic culture differs greatly from the culture of The Torah, which was the first established religion that believed in teaching a monotheistic education, believing in one God. Furthermore, one can see in The New Testament that they also worship one God in addition to following the teachings of Jesus. This creates a difference in cultures as this changes the way people worship their God/Gods. The transition into the first millennium brought many changes as new religions appeared and there became a diversity in beliefs. Through looking at The Homeric Era, The Hellenic Era, and The Roman Era, the differences within these time periods are shown through the transformation of each religion 's form of worship as a ritual.

Introduction. How is the power of a collective group significant to the study of religion, more specifically to Christianity? Religion, in this literature review, can be defined as a cohesive set of sacred beliefs and practices, which come together as a single group, formally known as a Church (Durkheim, 1912). Religious social groups have a clear, shared identity in which the power of the group as a whole can be very strong and influential. More precisely, the group’s objectives are met by the power of collective effervescence. Collective effervescence can be best described as the energy created from the joining of individuals within close proximity of one another, which consequently brings them to new heights, both mentally and physically, that they may have never been able to feel on their own (Durkheim, 1912). The power of collective effervescence in Christianity is likely to be the root of piety to the commonly held Christian belief that Christianity is the “right” religion.

Each individual has their own beliefs and practices of how they view life. The interpretation of religion is completely unique to each person. We all should respect each other’s religion despite the differences in order to avoid unnecessary conflicts. The purpose of this paper is to name my religion. I will identify the deities and their significance, define its basic concepts and beliefs, and explain the reasons for its existence. I will name the sacred text of the religion, identify the place where member usually meet to worship God, and describe the rituals that commonly seen in this religion. I will also define the characteristics of the home altar, explain the membership criteria and how people are being recruited, and describe how each

Christian worship was not just and experience to visible worship, but also invisible worship. Actually, your private worship prepares you for open worship before people. Sometimes people mistake public worship for the main focus do not get me wrong, there is nothing wrong with public worship, but you learn to establish a relationship with the Lord in private. In fact, this is your personal, intimate time with the Father to hear His voice and get instructions. Slaves’ learned to build a secret connection with the Lord mainly they were led to the Lord because He was their only hope in such a desperate circumstance.

Worship comes in different forms depending on how the church wants the service to proceed. For the Amazing Grace Church, the service began with the congregation singing a number of worship songs to the Lord that lasted for about an hour. Christian praise and worship by music, and in fact, music is a great tool for helping them feel closer to God. Music is an emotional language because it effectively affects their emotions and the lyrics can swell their hearts. There is nothing bigger and greater than the grace of God that is delivered to them from condemnation through the sacrifice of his own Son. Thus, Christian chooses to praise and worship Him by singing. While singing, the congregation stands on their feet and they seem to be affected by the songs in some way as they raise their hands as a sign of accepting the Lord into their hearts. The emotion that was thrown from the congregation was very distinctive to us as we could see that the songs are an important tool of expression. According to the pastor of the Amazing Grace Church, singing let the people focus on the worship, helps them respond to God’s grace and also guide them to reflect on God’s glory. In his opinion, singing mean nothing if people do not respond to what they have sang and related it to God and reflect it to make them better believers.